The present invention relates to a humidity control device of an air conditioner for air-conditioning heating, cooling, humidity adjusting and the like operations, and more particularly, to a humidity control device capable of setting the level of humidity in the appropriate ranges of the humidity differently for the drying operation and the heating operation, thus creating a comfortable atmosphere condition.
In conventional technology, the humidity control of the air conditioner for heating and cooling in a room has been performed mainly during the drying operation, i.e. humidifying operation, and is hardly ever performed during the heating operation.
Some air conditioners humidify the room during the heating operation. However, such a humidifying operation in the room is executed based on the drying operation, regardless of operation modes such as cooling, heating and drying modes of the air conditioner. Moreover the humidity set by the remote controller is fixed, for example, at 60% for the intermediate humidity as a standard.
Humidity control by a conventional air conditioner has been carried out by controlling the humidity at a fixed amount, for example, 60%, based on the drying operation. The drying operation is employed during a period of relatively high humidity, for example, approximately 80%-90%, and performs the dehumidifying operation in such a degree that the humidity in the room becomes 60%.
On the other hand, the heating operation is employed during the period of relatively low humidity, for example, approximately 25%-35%, and performs the humidifying operation in such a degree that the humidity in the room becomes 60% based on the drying operation.
In general, the comfortable humidity, that is, the appropriate range of humidity, is said to be between 40%-60%.
In conventional air conditioners, the humidity control during the heating operation is performed based on the drying operation. Thus, even if the humidity is within the appropriate range thereof at a point where the humidity becomes higher than 40%, the lower limit, the uneconomical humidifying operation is still executed until the humidity reaches 60%, causing wasteful consumption of energy.